Indigo Blooms
by Sailor Panda
Summary: To make a wish is easy, but having one come true isn't always for the best. When a wish made has unforeseen consequences, does it mean the end of it all? Or the beginning of something else?


AN: I have but two things to say:   
  
1.) Many thanks to Cassidy Jewell (one of my favorite fanfic writers, by the way) for beta reading this fic and offering her terrific opinions since both of my usual beta readers seemed to have vanished. Maybe my writing became too terrible for them to read anymore? *sniffles* Ah, well. Such is life.  
  
2.) One request to the readers: don't kill me after you read this, okay? (^_^;)   
  
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It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.  
  
Over and over the thought rang in her mind, screaming, wailing in anguish and regret. Emotions and thoughts boiled within her, raging against this most painful of outcomes that was even worse than her most terrible of nightmares.  
  
Because not even her nightmares had been as horrific as this.  
  
How?   
  
How could she possibly have known?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Kagome-nee-chan!"  
  
She turned to see a little girl running towards her, waving flowers happily in a clutched fist. She cast her eyes beyond the small form and, sure enough, there was a larger form following calmly behind her, a familiar sight that had her heart clutching oddly. And when golden eyes met hers, she looked away from the intensity in that gaze, unable to bear it and the emotions that he stirred within her.  
  
"Here! For you!"  
  
She blinked then smiled as she accepted the little girl's offering. She admired the flowers - buds really since the petals were still closed until the time came for them to unfurl from their slumber, whenever that would be.   
  
She stroked the blossoms, thinking that she'd never seen that particular species of flora before or such a lovely shade of indigo in a plant.  
  
Indigo.  
  
It was the color of intuition - or so she'd heard.   
  
She clutched the flowers tightly and silently prayed that they'd be good luck and help her make the right choices in what was to come. Believing so made her feel easier, soothed. It reminded her of other things she'd heard about colors and how blues were supposed to have a calming effect, as well as other things that sometimes affected her in a similar way.   
  
Involuntarily, her gaze was pulled to the silent bystander who was, even now, regarding her steadily. And she couldn't help thinking how odd it was that while she felt sometimes felt threatened by his presence, she also felt infinitely safer. Like indigo, his existence could calm, a pooling effect that seemed to radiate outwards from his being, touching those around him that would accept it.  
  
She looked back at the girl. "Thank you, Rin-chan."   
  
"You like it?"   
  
Anxious hope was rife in her tone. And it would take a far stronger soul than hers to resist that expression upon that tiny heart-shaped face.  
  
"Oh, yes," she replied warmly. "Definitely. They're very beautiful."  
  
"Good!" she squealed excitedly, clapping her hand together happily. "Sesshoumaru-sama said they were rare so Rin thought they'd be perfect for you!"  
  
"Rare?"   
  
"Uh-huh. Special flowers since they're so hard to find." Her eyes were earnest. "So do you feel better now?"  
  
She blinked. "Why would I need to feel better?"  
  
"Because you've been so quiet lately. Not like normal." She looked sad. "Rin thought maybe you weren't feeling well and wanted to make you happier."  
  
Her eyes widened. She hadn't thought anyone would notice, but apparently someone had. She wondered if any of the others had noticed her preoccupied mood and absently glanced around the campfire, but no one else was around. Then she remembered - they'd gone back to Kaede's village from where they had made camp a short distance away, needing some distance from others before the eve of what was to come. They'd all be back soon after they'd said their good-byes...just in case.  
  
Shaking herself from the morbid thought, she concentrated on the present. "Thank you, Rin-chan. I feel much, much better now."  
  
The little girl brightened and gave her a huge grin just before she launched her tiny body towards her. Her arms wrapped around tight as she gave the biggest hug her small frame could manage. And after her start of surprise, she wrapped her arms around the child and embraced her back.  
  
"Now Rin has to go feed Ah-Un," chirped the girl after pulling back. She waved merrily before dashing off into the forest. "See you later, Kagome-nee-chan, Sesshoumaru-sama!"  
  
And then there were two.  
  
She stifled a nervous laugh at the thought, fiddling with the flower stems as she looked anywhere and everywhere but at him. She might have gone on that way forever if his absolute silence hadn't started chafing at her senses. Venturing a glance in his direction, she discovered what she had expected to find.  
  
He was staring at her.  
  
"What?" she asked defensively. "You have a problem with me?"  
  
"I am not the one plagued with troubles," was his calm reply.  
  
"And I am?"  
  
"It is a question best answered by yourself. Are you?"  
  
She looked away. "Can't you just read my mind or something?"  
  
"Contrary to what you may think of my powers, that is not one of my abilities."  
  
"Too bad for you."  
  
"It is for the best. I would rather not have the thoughts of any multitude of lowly beings interfering in my own mind."  
  
Her lips twitched. "Sounds like something you'd say."  
  
"Of course. What need have I to speak words that are not as myself?" His tone grew serious. "Just as you are not as yourself. Rin is right on that much, at least."  
  
She stiffened. "How many know?"  
  
"Everyone, I'm certain. You are a very expressive person."  
  
She frowned. "No one's said anything to me."  
  
"I believe that they have their own thoughts to deal with. It is natural on the eve of a battle such as this."  
  
"And you're not worried?"  
  
"Useless fretting will accomplish nothing."  
  
"But what if things don't turn out like you expect them too? What if something happens...to you?" Her voice dropped. "What about Rin-chan?"  
  
A brief pause, then he said, "I have made arrangements for that as well."  
  
"Of course." A soft laugh; it wasn't happy. "I wish such foresight wasn't necessary."  
  
He inclined his head in acknowledgement.  
  
"Are you going to send her to Kaede-obaa-chan's tomorrow?"  
  
"With Jaken, yes."  
  
"Good. A battle is no place for a child."  
  
"And the kitsune?"  
  
"I'm sending him off to the village in the morning as well."  
  
"Wise decision." Suddenly he was beside her and she was staring back with wide eyes as he bent closer. "Now, enough of the pleasantries. While preoccupation is understandable at such a time as this, I sense there is something else that lies beneath it. Tell me."  
  
"I thought you said you couldn't read minds."  
  
"And I cannot. If I could, what need would I have to ask?"  
  
"Ask? More like command!"  
  
"As you say." He regarded her intently. "Now, cease your stalling."  
  
She flushed. "Why do you have to be so perceptive?"  
  
"Why will you not tell me?" A hand rose to gently cup her cheek. "There is something that has you afraid, and it is not Naraku. What is it?"  
  
With a soft sigh, she gave up. He'd had decades to master the art obtaining answers from resistant souls and she knew that she was no match for him in that aspect. But that didn't mean she had to tell him everything, only part of the nebulous ideas that had entrapped her mind in their hold.  
  
"The future. Of a future that lies just a few short hours away. What will it bring...for all of us?"  
  
"That is something that cannot be known until we are there. To see into it beforehand is not an ability most are cursed with."  
  
"I know that. And it's not one I want either. Much." She struggled to find the words. "But there are times I wish that I could get just a tiny little peek to make sure that the choices I make in the present are the right ones for the future."  
  
Golden eyes narrowed. "Is this about us?"  
  
"No...not completely. But that does bother me a bit too."  
  
"Does it?"  
  
She flinched. "Please, don't go all cold on me. I'd rather you save it for Naraku."  
  
"There will be more than enough in reserve for him as well."  
  
"Please." She caught his hand just as he was drawing it away. "Hear me out!"  
  
"Very well. I'm listening."  
  
"Then listen closely." She took a deep breath, bracing herself. "Perceptive as you are, you know I have feelings for you. And even if we haven't said what those feelings are exactly because of the poor timing and the uncertainty of the future, you know that they are strong."   
  
He stood silent, gaze intense.  
  
"I don't regret coming here, meeting everyone, getting to know so many wonderful people and seeing things that I hadn't thought were possible. And despite the rocky start we got off to," she frowned, "and trying to keep you and Inuyasha from killing each other when we were supposed to be working together...well, for the most part, I've enjoyed it all." Her expression softened. "And I enjoyed getting to know you better, in spite of the things Inuyasha and some of the others have said and done since then. Really, I could never have imagined that things would turn out this way."  
  
"Even if you were the one who arranged this situation?" he reminded her. "It was your persistence to gather our forces, who gained consent from the wolves to join with us in tomorrow's battle, who approached me with the agreement to pool our sources towards a common goal. Could you not imagine the possibility of where such a pact would lead?"  
  
"Not this," she laughed. "You're not exactly the easiest person to anticipate, you know."  
  
"But I am not a person; I am youkai."  
  
"Which is why it's even more difficult to get a handle on you."  
  
"And yet, despite these difficulties you attach to me, you seem to fare well. You have never taken issue with my company, have you not?"  
  
"Well, no. Not really."  
  
"Then why," his tone was low, "do I sense this hesitation on your part is somehow related to me?"  
  
"Like I said before, it's not you. At least, not completely." She shook her head. "It's just that...well, I wonder what everyone would think if I wasn't here anymore."  
  
"Why?" The simple question was sharp, tense. "Why would such a thought bother you so intensely?"  
  
"Well, aside from the very real probability of it becoming a very real fact considering who we're going up against, it has to do with the truth that this isn't my time. Everyone else - you, Inuyasha, the others, even Naraku - this is the era that you were born into. But it's not mine. What if, when it's over and if I'm still alive...what if I'm not supposed to be here any longer than that?"  
  
"Is that what you desire?"  
  
"My heart, no. But my head," she sighed heavily, "Sesshoumaru, it tells me that it's against all natural laws that I should stay here. My being here - who knows what consequences it could bring to the future I know? I want to stay-"  
  
"Then stay."  
  
"It's not that simple."  
  
"Is it not?"  
  
"No; it can't be. It's the power of the Shikon no Tama that brought me here; most likely it's what has allowed me to stay even now. But I think it's only letting me do so until this is all over and Naraku has been defeated."  
  
"Then use the jewel to stay."  
  
"How can you say that? You know it causes disaster to those that use it for selfish purposes."   
  
"And how is it selfish if you merely use it to grant the wishes of others who desire the same?"  
  
She was getting frustrated. "I don't think it works like that."  
  
"How can you be certain? No one knows with absolute surety just how the jewel operates."  
  
"Forget it!" Her expression was tight. "I don't think we're going to get anywhere with this conversation so let's just drop it."  
  
"Very well. We shall leave it alone. For now."  
  
At the imperious tone, her eyes flashed in annoyance. It completely baffled her at times, like then, leaving her wondering how she could have ever developed feelings for someone with such a huge superiority complex. Too much traveling with Inuyasha must have made her masochistic!   
  
"If you squeeze much more, you'll cause them to break."  
  
Startled, she glanced down and immediately flushed upon realizing she was slowly grinding the stems of the flowers she clutched into a pulpy mush. Her mortification did nothing to soothe her irritation with the annoying youkai.  
  
"You should take more care with those flowers."  
  
"And why is that?" she snapped angrily.  
  
"It is as I told Rin. They are special flowers, hardly ever seen these days and..."  
  
She tuned him out, letting the flow of his words wash over her, enjoying the soothing tones if not the meaning of his lecture. She'd learned that the normally word-stingy youkai could be abnormally loquacious when it came to certain topics...especially ones that he deemed himself an authority on over all others. And rare items happened to be one of those topics.  
  
Though she didn't care much for the educational lesson, she did enjoy the sound of his voice and the calming effect it had on her nerves. And so she let him talk, basking in his low even tone until the others returned, crowding around them, sharing in each other's company for what might be the last time before settling down, preparing for the trials to come with the new day with much needed rest.  
  
And so, with a kitsune curled against her, friends around her, and a silent protector keeping a watchful eye just a short distance away...she slept.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
If only she could turn back time and undo it all.   
  
But she had made the choice, a decision she had thought right and in the best interests for all in the end no matter her heart's truest desires. And it was too late to reverse what she'd done.  
  
Far, far too late.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
They were falling.  
  
One by one her most precious loved ones were collapsing, being beaten back by that which was Naraku. As red stained the earth and her anguished eyes took in the sight of her fallen comrades and those that were still upright and fighting desperately despite the blood flowing from the wounds that had been inflicted upon them in battle, she felt the horrible realization crash through her as the war raged on in vicious force all around her.  
  
They were losing.  
  
They were dying.  
  
And she couldn't stand by and let that happen.  
  
She rose, shaking with the effort to pick herself off the ground, biting back the whimpers of pain that wanted escape with every movement of her own injuries. She blocked out everything - the blood, the hurt, the fear - all but the need to center herself and do what had to be done to ensure that they were the ones who would survive. She ignored the distractions and concentrated, focused, set her sights on the ultimate goal.  
  
Naraku.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The complete hopelessness of the situation overtook her, overwhelming all else, and she had to close her eyes against the wave of despair that washed over her, staring her back in the face no matter where she cast her gaze. She squeezed her eyes tight as if that could block out the horrific results of her actions.   
  
But the images were burned into her mind, terrible nightmarish objects she couldn't escape from no matter how much she struggled against them.  
  
And it was impossible to blot out the memories.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
It was time.  
  
As the Shikon no Tama continued to glow, pulsing rhythmically with light while the last remnants of Naraku scattered to the wind, she could feel the power coursing through her, pushing her to make a choice, to use the last of its energy and set free the souls trapped within, releasing its existence from the world.  
  
But what choice was it that she should make?  
  
It came down to a question of belonging and the way things should be. And past the light emitted by the jewel within her hands, she gazed at the ring of faces surrounding her, reading the varying degrees of love and worry reflected back at her. Then her attention was captured by a familiar golden gaze; she could it read so well at that moment and practically felt the force of the unasked question that hung suspended within it.  
  
Everything that the future would hold for them all hinged upon that very moment.  
  
She knew, and she made her choice.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
She'd made the wrong one.  
  
It was never more obvious than now. Because this...  
  
This was Hell.  
  
Fate had tricked her, lulled her into a false sense of security those first few months she'd been back, the well forever sealed behind her, the Shikon no Tama gone and never to be seen again. Just as the past was barred to her, so had she thought she would put the memories of that time behind her and resume her normal life - the way she was meant to.  
  
And for a while, being back had been a novelty of sorts, holding a newness that had allowed her to immerse herself in all the bustle, letting her forget the faces of those she'd left behind, if only temporarily. This was the world she was born in, the one she grew up in, the one she belonged to. She had loved ones here too and she enjoyed being with them, talking with them, laughing with them without having to worry about needing to constantly look over her shoulder for the enemy behind them. She lived and she was moving on with her existence.  
  
However, existing was the only thing that she did.  
  
After the newness of being back had waned, she'd fallen into a pattern - a continuous cycle that was easy to repeat, required little thought, and went on and on day after day. She went through the motions, all the while feeling partially adrift and lost, as if there was a piece of that had gone missing to a place that she couldn't find.  
  
But then it had found her.  
  
She shuddered, biting back an awful sob that wanted nothing more than to be let loose while the shattered remains of her life lay in broken pieces around her. And the worst of it was that she had no one to blame but herself.  
  
Mama.  
  
Grandpa.  
  
Souta.  
  
She stared up, straight at the ceiling, unwilling to look at the ruins around her. But she couldn't leave it behind, remembering what she'd unsuspectingly come home to, too preoccupied with her thoughts to realize the danger surrounding her home until it was too late.  
  
Red.  
  
The walls...the floors...  
  
Everything....  
  
Everything covered in it...  
  
Everything...  
  
Including him.  
  
She choked back the bitter bile that rose with the remembrance - the connection, the instance of realization as her eyes processed what her stricken eyes first beheld, the knowledge that crashed through her that it was her fault this had happened. The heat, the cold, the awful dizziness that had threatened to turn her world black, those sensations that had hit her all at once was nothing compared to the first moment she had set her sights on the one responsible, the one who had wrought such horrific carnage upon her home.  
  
Because of her.  
  
She'd known it for the truth, a point driven home even more with his words, his actions...  
  
His hate.   
  
Frozen in place by equally powerful urges either flee for her life, her sanity, or the gut-wrenching need to check for signs of life even when any untrained eye could clearly see that there was none left among the vicious haphazard carnage, she was unable to do anything but stand there amidst that macabre tableau in heart-crushing shock. But even if she'd been able to get her muscles to obey her commands, it wouldn't have done any good.  
  
Human reflexes were of no match against a youkai's.  
  
"Because of you. This...all...because of you..."  
  
Her vision blurred, was blinked away in a hot rush of tears that trickled down her face as his harshly rasped words pierced her heart as they had when he first said them, however long ago that was, injuring her in ways she hadn't believed possible until that moment. Time held no meaning; there was only him, her, and the wreckage around them that they had they were both to blame for.   
  
And the pain.  
  
Even now as he moved over her prone figure, blocking the ceiling from view, her chest still squeezed tight in that odd way it did whenever she was in his presence. Not even the strange expression that twisted his snarling features in a way her memories of him had never painted him could quite dispel that familiar feeling, even after all he'd done.  
  
Again her vision blurred, her heart breaking all over again at the picture he made - snarling fangs bared, eyes bleeding to red, pale hair falling in dirty unkempt strands, bloodstained clothing in wrecked disarray.   
  
The him from her memories would never have been caught in such a wildly disheveled state.  
  
But then, this wasn't the one she knew anymore.  
  
"Because of you," he hissed again, as if unable to think of anything else.  
  
She stared back at him, wide-eyed and unblinking, even when saliva dripped off those snarling fangs and onto her cheeks, she couldn't look away from the sheer horror he'd become.  
  
Not like a man, not like a youkai...  
  
But like a savage animal trapped in man-youkai form.  
  
"I'm so sorry," she whispered finally, hoarsely, unable to think of anything else as her tears continued to fall.  
  
"Think...that means...anything?" There was an unpleasant bark of laughter, a flash of red eyes. "...means...nothing!"   
  
Sharp claws dug in viciously, ripped and shred, caused liquid red to flow. She couldn't stop the strangled cry, the pain, or the terror that flowed from her, especially when she could plainly see the savage satisfaction that seemed to paint his distorted features with almost childlike glee.  
  
He...who'd she'd once believed would never hurt her.  
  
How wrong she was.  
  
"Because of you," he growled roughly, thrusting his face closer until she was peering straight into those vengeful crimson orbs as he spoke haltingly, as if no longer used to words. "Know...how long...sealed?" His eyes glittered madly. "Council...elders...thought was...dangerous...insane..."  
  
She panted harshly, trying to control her breathing, her fear.  
  
"Now...not sealed...anymore...because of you. Took...long time...find...here. Danger now...yes?" She flinched as he laughed again, an unpleasant grating sound.   
  
Dimly she wondered if her sealing of the well had somehow triggered the release of the one that had held him, setting him loose to carry the shattered remnants of whatever feelings he'd once held for her - feelings that had been transformed to hate - until he tracked her down from wherever he'd been imprisoned, for however long that had had been. But it was a vague, nebulous thought of what might have been overshadowed by what was now boring viciously into her with burning crimson gaze.  
  
"You...did this...made monster...made..." His expression shifted, turned pained, almost agonized. "Youkai...not supposed...feel...but you...made...you made!"   
  
A choked sob escaped, she couldn't help it, not as his form trembled above hers with emotions that even he could not seem to control. If there were new ways to die, this was it - knowing that she had been a part of what had broken him, worn away his usual self-control until it had vanished into nothing. This was something she had never wished to know.  
  
"...girl...Rin...made bad...killed..."  
  
She stilled, didn't even breathe as the implication of his unexpected words wrung a fresh wave of horrified remorse from her.   
  
Oh, Kami-sama, no! Had she driven him to even that - killing the girl he had cared for so?  
  
She didn't want to believe it, tried desperately not to even think it, but she had a difficult time not to. With the scattered liquid red remains that lay in devastation around them as testimony to his capabilities, she could see such a thing happening all too well.  
  
"...why...didn't know...hurt...you left..." He shook his head frantically, made a whimpering sound. "...left...alone...why...why...why..."  
  
"Sesshoumaru...." She couldn't keep her own anguish from her voice. "I'm so, so sorry."  
  
Despite the pain, despite the fear, she still found the strength within her to reach up, smoothing gentle fingers over his twisted features that looked back at her, an odd stillness seeming to overtake him as gold flecks flickered within the crimson sea of his gaze. Such a little thing, but it brought her hope that perhaps there was something left that could still be preserved, some spark that could be fanned to flickering life within the shell of what used to be him.  
  
Then he snarled, baring glistening fangs, shattering that hopeful illusion as he gripped her wrist painfully to the point of breaking.  
  
"Too late...can't help...now..."  
  
Another claw came up, slashed, sent blood splattering onto her cheeks, burning in her eyes that stared with a sick kind of fascination at the mutilated fleshy rows he'd dug into his own face. And it was only made worse by the embittered rage that still shone furiously from his gaze.  
  
"Can...love...this?"  
  
Her mouth opened but was helpless when it came to finding the words, if there were any, which could be said.  
  
"Doesn't...matter...." His grip tightened on the slender wrist he still clutched, brought it closer to his face. "Together...won't...let go...now..."  
  
Then he sank his fangs into her.  
  
She screamed, feeling as if her wrist had been set on fire as he continued to feed, draining her life away with every red drop. She tried to pull back but he was too strong; still she struggled, even if she knew she'd never be able to break free from his painful grip.   
  
"...never..."  
  
Knowing it was hopeless, exhausted from her fruitless efforts to escape, she closed her eyes, preparing to give herself up to the end that was coming when a faint sound pushed through the foggy haze of pain and dizziness that hovered around the last shreds of her consciousness. She blearily opened her eyes, struggling to focus her gaze only to see a small round object rolling across the wooden floor, narrowing the distance until it slowed and came to a stop just within arm's reach.   
  
How it came to be there she didn't know, didn't care. All she knew was that it offered the faintest rays of hope that maybe, just maybe, she could make things right.  
  
She had to.   
  
Anything had to be better than this.  
  
Anything.   
  
She stretched, body straining to grasp that last ephemeral of chances even as the last vestiges of her life's blood slipped away. That object had changed things once and she could only pray that it would do so again. Her fingers wrapped around the smooth hardness, clutching tight as she gathered all the strength she had left, pooling all her desperation and hope into that final saving grace.  
  
And she made her wish.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
She bolted upright, stifling a strangled cry as she glanced frantically around.   
  
Fire. Bodies. Forest.  
  
Camp.  
  
Disoriented, she looked around, trying to calm her racing heartbeat as she experienced the strangest sense of dŽjˆ vu.   
  
This had happened before.  
  
"Nightmare?"  
  
She gave a startled squeak as she twisted around.  
  
And came face-to-face with him.  
  
Involuntarily, she flinched, shrinking back from him as those golden eyes narrowed.  
  
Golden.  
  
Not red.  
  
Relief as intense as her initial fear flooded through her. Tense muscles relaxed as she let the knowledge fill her that it all only been a terrible, horrible dream. No doubt, the stress of the upcoming battle was getting to her, affecting her subconscious even in slumber. Thankful, she looked around, noticing that the small noise of fright she'd made had disturbed none of her other slumbering compatriots.   
  
Well, almost none.  
  
"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "Bad dream."  
  
"About what?"  
  
Red eyes...  
  
Snarling fangs...  
  
Blood.  
  
It all flashed across her vision in a vivid instant until she blinked it away. Shivering involuntarily, she unconsciously clutched a corner of her sleeping bag closer to her, drawing reassuring comfort in the living, breathing bundle of kitsune slumbering beside her peacefully. Then she looked at him, the collected soul she knew so well and was so very far apart from the being that existed in her dreams.  
  
Or was he?  
  
Was there a possibility that that horror could ever be him?  
  
"It was nothing," she said quietly, trying to shake her sudden unease.  
  
"And does 'nothing' normally cause a human to perspire in such balmy weather?"  
  
She touched her forehead, slick with cold sweat, and didn't know what to say.  
  
"I suspected something like this would occur," he murmured. "Your paid no heed to my warnings, did you?"  
  
"What warnings?" she asked, confused.  
  
"About these."   
  
She watched, perplexed, as he reached down towards where her head had rested before her rude awakening and gently brushed a claw tipped finger against the fragile petals of an indigo flower in full bloom. She blinked, confused again for she was positive that the buds had been closed tight before she'd drifted off to sleep. But now, every single bud was blown full wide, revealing the velvety interior of entrancing deep dark rich blue.  
  
"You warned me about the flowers?"  
  
"Were you not listening?"  
  
The closest she could come to describing his expression was...reproachful. Feeling much like a chastised child whose hand was slapped after dipping into the cookie jar one too many times, she fidgeted uncomfortably as a flush warmed her cheeks.  
  
"I listened," she said defensively. "Just...not to the words."  
  
"Somehow, that does not surprise me."  
  
"Hey!" Her whispered exclamation was insulted. "I thought it was a botany lecture. You know, not that important?"  
  
"Important enough that it might have spared you an uneasy rest."  
  
"Well...then why didn't you make sure I knew?" Outrage glinted in her eyes. "You could have told me again before I went to bed with it, so why didn't you?"  
  
"Perhaps to teach you a lesson."  
  
"To teach me what?" she scoffed. "To listen to you?"   
  
"To wisdom that would benefit you, at the very least." His gaze was steady. "If you had paid attention, you would have heard me expound on the dangers of such innocuous seeming flora."  
  
She regarded the flowers in question warily. "So these were responsible for my dreams?"  
  
"I believe so, yes."  
  
"Believe? Not 'know'?"  
  
"As I told Rin, the species is rare - rare enough that not much is known about their origins or the extent of the properties they hold. Much of what they are is still a mystery as they are not in abundance and lack of their kind has prevented further study of them and how they may or may not affect others that come in contact with them. But what is known is that, unlike normal plant life, these give off an aura containing a small amount of energy that is more akin to...youkai."   
  
She felt a chill. "A youkai plant?"  
  
"For lack of any better classification, you may refer to it as such. But the level of energy it radiates is very low under usual circumstances."  
  
"And the unusual ones?"  
  
"I have heard it named the Night-Dreaming Bloom for it is said that when the flower blooms in the darkest time of the night it weaves a spell that draws the sleeper into visions that reveals the fears that lie within the dreamer's heart."  
  
"Fears, huh?" She reflected on the twisted images in her mind. "I suppose that makes some kind of sense."  
  
"And what was it that you saw in your dreams?"  
  
"It's not important." She shrugged it off. "Just a nightmare."   
  
"I have seen you face greater objects than a mere nightmare," he told her quietly, "and have never seen you so terrified."  
  
"Just forget about it, okay? We've got bigger things to worry about than a bad dream, don't we? And I need more rest to be ready for tomorrow."  
  
"Very well. Then this too is something that shall be left alone for the moment."  
  
She ignored the implicit threat of another time that threaded through his tone. Even as he moved back, resuming his watchful place at the base of a nearby tree beside a small girl's form, she took comfort in his presence. Tense muscles relaxed as she sighed, shifting the indigo blooms a farther distance for she wanted no more nightmarish visions to disturb her, but neither did she want to hurt the feelings of the child who had been so proud to find them by throwing them away.  
  
"Good night," she murmured softly.  
  
Though he made no sound as she lay back down on her side, settling herself back carefully around the little kitsune, she knew the silent form had heard her quiet whisper. And though no words of acknowledgement were returned, she felt comforted as she tucked her hands beside one resting cheek.  
  
Then she stiffened, trembled. Hardly daring to breathe, she twisted closer to the faint light emitted by the dying embers of the campfire, focusing her eyes to examine what she prayed couldn't be true.   
  
But there it was, testimony to what should never have been and might still yet be, twin blemishes that marred the pale flesh of one delicate wrist.  
  
Fang marks...   
  
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~ OWARI ~ 


End file.
